Wizardry IV: Paroled!

Yeah, screw this.

            

Call me a wuss, but I've had enough of Wizardry IV. The problem with this game is that it's not a game so much as a gimmick. I do like games with riddles and challenges; I do not like games in which literally every level tries to screw with your head.

         

Level 6 turned out to be not so bad, except for the spinners. Fortunately, a lot of foes dropped necklaces that cast the DUMAPIC (map) spell, so it was solvable if frustrating. There was even a bit of light "riddle" in which the answer to the question "What do you most desire?" (or something like that) was clearly AMULET. I got a robe for my troubles.

          

When I reached Level 5, I started to think, "Hell, CRPG Addict, you're halfway done. Might as well see this one through. Impress those jerk-offs over at RPGWatch who razzed you for bailing on Wizardry III so fast." Then I died about 30 times in a row and said...well, let's just say I had a different sort of reaction. The CRPG Addict is, after all, a family blog. Fairly certain in my decision to pack it in, I risked a peek at a walkthrough--just a peek--and immediately felt even better about my decision. Take a look at this map for Level 4. I'm too old for this. 

        

Map courtesy of John Hubbard (http://www.tk421.net/wizardry)

           

Reading through John Hubbard's walkthrough--most of which frankly terrifies me--I find I am sorry that I didn't get to see the finale. Apparently, there are several possible endings: one "good," three "evil," and one "grandmaster." The "good" ending occurs after you wander into a pool that changes your alignment; you can then pass a challenge from the various dukes of the kingdom to become their (benevolent) overlord. The three "evil" endings have you challenging the god Kadorto for the Amulet and becoming a god yourself (each of a different type depending on--of all things--the sword you choose in the altar room I described in the last post; I would have become a "greedy and opulent God"). The "grandmaster" ending, as best I can tell, involves having the right artifacts when you challenge Kadorto and ultimately revealing him to be a fraud and the Amulet to be a thing of pure chaos crafted as a cosmic joke. You determine to send it back to its makers and then wander off down a path, footloose and fancy-free. Isn't that nice. If I hadn't quit now, you would have had a ranting, raving, psychotic posting from me in about a week, after I finally escaped the dungeon and tried to enter the castle above. Of this, the aforementioned walkthrough says:

The password is 'TREBOR SUX'. (There is a clue to this in the Oracle's pronouncements, but even with that you need to be intimately familiar with the original Wizardry to get this one on your own.)

Uh-huh. Apparently, this is some graffiti "carved in stone" (the Oracle's hint) in the original Wizardry. Well, it's not like I kept screenshots of everything in Wizardry I, so I would have had to go back and win Wizardry I again in order to progress in this game. And I would have had to start from the beginning, since it deleted my characters upon exporting them to Wizardry II. One thing you can say about the Wizardry franchise: it doesn't pull any punches.

        

The difficulty of the game is one thing, but what really killed my enthusiasm for Wizardry IV is that it doesn't include any of the elements that I like about CRPGs. Oh, it has an interesting back story, I grant you, and a very original approach. But there's virtually no character creation or development: you start off as the same Werdna every time, and you only "develop" by visiting successive pentagrams; there are no experience rewards for your eons of combat. There are no meaningful NPC encounters, no economy, only one pathological main quest, extremely linear gameplay, and an overall experience that's exasperating instead of challenging. It features some of the tactical combat intensity that I liked about the original Wizardry, but limited in that you can only control one character. The graphics and sound are an insult at this stage of CRPG development. I'm giving it a 30 on my GIMLET scale and moving on to 2400 A.D., but I do so with some remorse. Actually finishing this game, without cheats or walkthroughs, would have felt like a real accomplishment. Unfortunately, I just don't have that kind of patience.

[Ed. I went back and finished the game in 2022. Coverage starts here.]

Wizardy IV: An Exercise in Masochism

This really wasn't nice.

Level 8 of Wizardry IV was literally the most hateful dungeon I have ever encountered in any CRPG. At least 3/4 of the squares in the mostly wide-open dungeon are bombs that cost you 10 hits per step. There's a path that weaves through them but no way to discern the path without simply getting yourself bombed, mapping, and returning frequently to the summoning pentagram or using DIOS potions (which, fortunately, many of the denizens of the level drop). Absurdly, you can't tell your companion priests to heal you outside of combat, so if you don't have DIOS potions, you have to keep fighting to heal.

Do you suppose in Europe, it says, "Kablam! Flowers!"? (Reference.)

Some of the monsters you encounter are thieves, which kept stealing my magical stones. Paranoid that I would need these later, I got used to reloading after every such theft. Since this got old fast, I started saving after every few encounters, which in turn meant that I kept fighting the same groups of monsters over and over.

Ooh, Arcturus's avengers. Again.

At one point, I found my way to the exit. I nearly took off at this point, but I decided to painstakingly keep mapping the level, which is a good thing because I found two more precious stones in the middle of a bunch of mines. The one good thing is a "black box" that I got from an assassin; it allows me to store various items in it. I got complacent in the idea that this meant the items could no longer be stolen, which may be true, but it turns out that the entire black box can be stolen. I found this out after I had saved over the game, meaning that, yes, I had to start the game over from the beginning. (It went faster without the need for mapping.)

The black box, which makes it easier for thieves to steal all your stuff at once.

It would be nice to think that this was the hardest level in the game, but, really, what are the odds of that?

Things improved a bit on Level 7. The map is in an interesting shape.


The game plays with the fiction that you actually ascend in this "ziggurat" instead of going north. The yellow areas are ones that I couldn't explore because if I try to leave the immediate area of the ziggurat, I "fall off a ledge" and die.

I'd like to know why they didn't call them gods right from the get-go.

At the top of the ziggurat was an altar that allowed me to donate my magic stones. Only, the first time I donated the wrong one and got the message at the top of this entry, forcing me to start over at the beginning. The second time, I donated the other stones but the altar simply destroyed them. The third time, I "invoked" the stones first and the altar was happy. It gave me the choice of three swords of different colors. I had no idea--still have no idea--what the difference was, so I chose my favorite of the three and ended up with something called the West Wind Sword. I assume it will suck less than the dagger I was wielding up until then.


Also at the top was what I think might be an homage to Zork III, although perhaps I'm just reading too much into it:

It's dubious to me how "scenic" this could be in the depths of a dark dungeon.

Through all of this exploring, I keep running in to a traveling "oracle," who takes 2,500 gold from me for various clues. I don't mind spending the money, as I have tens of thousands of gold pieces and nothing else to buy. But the clues are singularly unhelpful. Here are the ones I've collected so far:

• "The egress will set you free!" (Yep, that's why they call it an "egress.")
• "Your future is black; you feel boxed in!" (Maybe 'cause I'm in a dungeon.)
• "Read The Iliad lately?" (The Iliad exists in the world of Wizardry?)
• "Chomp, chomp...eh, what's east, Doc?" (And apparently Bugs Bunny, too.)
• "Secrets abound all around you! Psst! Have you met Glum yet?" (Glum was an assassin on Level 8 who had the black box I mentioned.)
• "Live the Qabalah!" (If there's one thing lacking in most CRPGs, it's references to obscure pagan mysticism.)
• "The answer is carved in stone. It is right before your nose!"
• "The temple holds an ancient secret."

If there are actual clues to be teased out of these rantings, I'm not sure what they are. I am sure that I'm not going to read The Iliad again just for this game.


I won't lie: I fired up 2400 A.D. for a few minutes just to see how I'd feel. But masochistic or not, I bailed on the last two Wizardry titles, so I feel honor-bound to keep with this one until it really starts to infuriate me.

That might be soon. Level 6 is full of spinners. I hate spinners.

Wizardry IV: &*$# Everything About This Game

I do hate it when my mummies thrust lovingly at their enemies.

Oh, where do I begin?

&*$# the way that you can't save your progress without resetting the entire dungeon.

&*$# the ghost of Lord Trebor, who suddenly appears while you're standing around, minding your own business, and kills you instantly.

You suck.

&*$# enemy spellcasters who MAHLITO all of your summoned creatures to ash.

&*$# the fact that you have a limited number of moves to complete the game, and holding down the space bar in combat--which is the only way to get through each combat in less than 15 minutes, even with the time delay set to 0--eats up about 100 of them per round.

Thieves. &*$# 'em. They come along and steal your stuff, some of which (like the magic stones I find in certain squares) I suspect are needed to complete the game. Do I have to reload after every thief?

You suck, too.

&*$# the KATINO (sleep) spell, which is the only area effect spell you have until Level 3, and it never works.

Never.

&*$# the manual, which doesn't tell you jack &*$# about what "invoking" things does.

&*$# the "oracle," who took 2,500 of my gold to tell me that "the egress will set you free." Oh, really?! The exit is the way out? Who would have guessed?

Thanks. I already feel welcome.

And &*$# Level 8, which is completely open and full of landmines that kill you without warning. They're everywhere. If there's any way to avoid them or map around them, I have no idea what it is.

My map of Level 8 so far. The black dots are mines. Mines that kill you.

This game could actually be fun. There are some interesting tactics to it. You have to figure out what each of the summoned creatures can do and pick the optimum balance of henchmen to effectively make your way through each level. You have to ration your spells and avoid saving too often. It could have been challenging and tactical; instead it's maddening and nearly impossible.

&*$# everything about this game. &*$# Andrew Greenberg, Robert Woodhead, and Roe R. Adams III for making it. &*$# Interplay for continuing to sell it. &*$# the lot of you for reading this blog. &*$# Google for providing the platform to set up this blog. &*$# my parents for having me. &*$# &*$# &*$#.

Sigh...back to mapping Level 8.

Game 27: Wizardry IV (1986)

It could have been worse. It could have been "The Return of Eor."

       

[Ed. Don't read this entry. Read instead the series I wrote in 2022 in which I offered a lot more detail and actually finished the game. It starts here. Seriously--skip this. These 2010 entries suck.]

      

Seriously, Sir-Tech? Five years have passed since Wizardry III. People have been telling me over and over how awesome your fourth "scenario" is. "The most challenging CRPG ever created," they say. I've spent months anticipating it, along the way making fun of games like Swords of Glass for their primitive programming. And this is what I've been waiting for? 

       

     

The same wire frame dungeons? The same monochromatic graphics? The same spells? The same commands? Sigh...well, what it lacks in originality in gameplay, it makes up in originality in story. Wizardry IV is called "The Return of Werdna." I had this idea that Werdna (the villain from Wizardry I) had returned, and I would have to mount an expedition to defeat him again. Not so. Rather, in this game, you play as Werdna. 

      

I think maybe I want a long, hot shower more.

      

In the game manual, Werdna recounts how he craved the magical amulet from the first game, which had been left behind in an episode when gods were screwing around on the mortal plane but were chased away by some more powerful force. Trebor managed to snag the amulet first, but Werdna invaded his castle and stole it from him. He was learning to channel its power when the adventurers from the first game burst into his chambers and killed him...or so they thought. You have now woken up and need to escape a 10-level dungeon. 

     

Should have gotten a higher deductible on that insurance! Bwu-ha-ha-ha-ha...wait, that doesn't really make sense.

            

Although the basic look and feel, combat, and commands are the same, there are significant differences from the previous Wizardry games. Some are good, some bad.

• There's no character creation. You immediately awaken as Werdna, at Level 1, a mage, with all of your attributes set to 9.
• You control only one character. On each level, there is at least one (maybe only one per level) "summoning pentagram" at which you can summon a variety of monsters to fight with you, but you can't control them or their inventories.

I'm not sure I even want to know what Option A is.

• There's a "real time" aspect to the game. If you just stand still, you can still be subjected to a wandering encounter.
• You don't get any experience from combat! The only way Werdna "levels up" is to visit the next level and go to a summoning square. This is also, as far as I can tell, the only way to get healed and recharge your spells.
• Unlike previous titles, you can now save the game--in up to eight slots!--but saving resets the dungeon and its fixed encounters.
• The "monsters" you encounter are actually named heroes (Werdna keeps calling them "do-gooders") seeking to slay you.

• The game frequently comments in Werdna's voice or from Werdna's perspective.

         

Despite the fact that I have a printed manual, there's lots about the game I don't understand so far. First, the room that you start in has no door, and you essentially have to wander around until one of your summonsed priests thinks to cast the MILWA spell to see the secret door. Werdna doesn't have this spell. Is this intentional? Second, when you kill monsters, they drop weapons and armor, but as a mage you generally can't use them. Since you also can't control the inventories of your summoned creatures, I'm not sure what purpose they serve. 

          

Not the most imaginative level map.

        

Tonight, I mapped Level 1 and went up to Level 2. I immediately saved it upon arrival, which turned out to be a big mistake. The encounters are suddenly much harder, only a couple of my monsters from Level 1 survived, and I don't know where the summoning pentagram is. I'm stuck between trying to find it (and getting slaughtered repeatedly) or going back to Level 1, battling back to the starting point, and using the pentagram again. When you die, you get returned to your crypt for another chance, although I don't consider it cheating to load the saved game at this point, since the game gives you the save option. 

         

        

So far, this game feels more like a goofy fan mod than something it took Sir-Tech five years to develop. I am pretty determined to win "the most challenging CRPG of all time," though, so settle in for the long haul on this one.